Day 4: On the steps of Paul and Paragliding :Berea, Meteora, and Kalambaka 

We departed Thessaloniki early in the morning and drove to Berea, a small city boasting the ruins of the “steps of Paul.” The very steps on which Paul stood to preach to the Bereans after he and Silas slipped away from Philippi. We held Eucharist here, in the niche where the steps are displayed. 

Bishop Monterroso challenged us in a bit of sport: the best recreation of a statue, icon, or fresco captured by phone wins a prize. We don’t know exactly what the prize is but we accepted the challenge nonetheless. Berea provided plenty of first attempt inspiration for most of us.

From Berea we drove 3 hours to Kalambaka, a small village nestled in the foot hills of more beautiful mountains and towering rock formations. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of homemade Greek food—finally, moussaka! 

After lunch we made the winding drive up the mountains and caught wonderful sightings of the rocks and the caves people loved in for centuries. How anyone managed to traverse these rocks by foot, I cannot begin to understand, but somehow they did, even building out to 24 monasteries at the very top of these rocks. Think a rock formation twice as tall and lonely as El  Capitan in Yosemite, with a monastery atop it!  Four monasteries remain: The convent of St. Barbara, Holy Trinity, The Nunnery of St. Stephen, The Monastery of the Metamorphoses (or the Monastery of the Transfiguration). 

We visited The Monastery of the Metamorphoses which was built in the 14th century by a rope and pulley system, which is also how many monks arrived and departed from the monastery. The goal of these monks was to escape the world for a life of quiet, solitude, and prayer—a life totally devoted to God made possible atop rocks that kiss the heavens. It was not lost on our group how different it must be for the present day monks as the witness car/bus loads of people arriving each day, loudly announcing our presence while they go about their daily work and prayers.  

Inside the church of the monastery, are floor to ceiling iconography depicting the life of Christ and many early martyrs, especially the martyrs of Greece. The whole space is a swirl of gold, silver, blue to indicate humanity, and red to indicate divinity. 

Our tour guide, Anna, is Greek Orthodox and deeply knowledgeable about Greek/Byzantine history, the history of the Orthodox Church. The way she weaves ancient and modern stories, highlighting the way the Persian wars of ancient times still echo in Greece today, or the way the conquest of the Ottoman Turkish Empire still echos in the names of cities-like Kalambaka—demonstrates the pride of the Greek people; their pride in their history, in the physical and metaphysical place as the gateway between the East and the West, in their ever present witness and participation in the ever unfolding story of humanity. 

Once we descended the mountain and were back on the ground, I decided to use our first moment of free time so far to book a paragliding trip. The pilot picked me up in front of our hotel and took me to a field. Then we climbed into a contraption that can only be described as a gasoline powered go cart with a parachute attached to the back. The pilot tapped me on my helmet and yelled, “ready?!” I gave him the thumbs up, he yanked the cord to the motor and it puttered to life. Off we went higher, higher, and higher still, until I was freezing from the cold air, and certain that we tip over from the wind. 

What exhilaration!! Oh frabjous day! Calloo Callay! 

High above the city we made our way back to the rock formations. This time I saw them from above, easily gliding over the monasteries atop, looking down upon climbers along their own way to the summit. Too soon, we were landing back in that little field and it was time for me to watch as Mike, the only person from the group who accepted my invitation to join me on this adventure, took his turn. 

Because I found the paragliding activity, and a night of live music at a local tavern, my new trip name is Maître d of Glee. 

Thats Day 4 done. Day 5, Sunday, we will make our way to Delphi, the Temple of Apollo, and then to Athens. 

Thinking of you all this holy and blessed third Sunday in Easter.